Finally a field trip and two adventurous days on the Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry with our friends Robert and Finola of Roaringwater Journal fame. The highlight of the visit had to be a trip to Illaunloughan, a tiny island in the middle of Portmagee Channel, just 350m from the mainland and close to Valentia Island. I have long wanted to visit, as yes, there is a holy well situated on it, amongst other interesting things, but the problem has always been how to get there. Although the boats heading to the Skelligs pass close by they do not stop and there is no official ferry. Apparently it’s possible to walk out at a very low tide but that seemed a little too adventurous and unpredictable.
On this occasion, we decided the best thing to do was to lurk by the pier in the hope that a passing boatman might take us. Enroute we inquired at the post office where we were given excellent advice and help and several phone calls later a handy boatman had been located. We were told to wait for David down by the pier.
We loitered and sure enough David arrived in his fishing boat. We clambered aboard and sailed off into the channel. St Brendan would surely have approved.
Portmagee made a charming and colourful backdrop as we made our short but bouncy voyage.
There is no jetty on the tiny island so David manoeuvred as close as he could to a smooth rock and we carefully scrambled ashore, trying not to disturb the resident seabirds or skid on the seaweed.
What a feast of delights greeted us. A scattering of ruined stone buildings have been identified as an oratory and various huts but the most striking monument is the magnificent gable shrine, so distinguished it can be seen from the mainland.
Two slate slabs form a sort of triangular tent, the whole things standing on a leacht: a large rectangular platform made out of earth and stones, liberally and carefully strewn with white quartz to dramatic effect.
The island was excavated in 1992-95 by Jenny White Marshall and Claire Walsh who wrote up their findings in a report entitled: Illaunloughan Island: An Early Medieval Monastery in County Kerry, 2005. They describe how the island was occupied from the late seventh to possibly the eleventh centuries, probably by a handful of monks. The original oratory and huts were constructed out of earthen sods but were later replaced at some point by drystone walled buildings, traces still remaining. The gable shrine also had several developments. The finding of three empty stone-lined graves under the leacht led to the suggestions that the incumbents had been reburied or translated under the gable shrine. Inside the shrine two cists, stone basins, were discovered which held the bones of three individuals, including a child. Could these have been the bones of the founder saints, possibly a St Lóchán? It is thought the child may have been fostered to be educated by the monks, as was normal at the time. St Brendan for example, was put into the care of St Ita when he was only a year old and remained under her tutelage until he was seven.
I have seen a similar shrine at the remarkable site dedicated to St Buonia on the slopes of Kilkeaveragh Mountain, not that far from here as the crow flies. This example is not as well preserved but has a circle cut into the base where pilgrims may have inserted their hands to feel the bones contained within or to leave votives.
The interior of this shrine remains full of quartz pebbles. It was part of the rounds connected with a holy well also dedicated to the saint (in this extract gable shrine is referred to as the priest’s grave):
The religious observance at the well is not confined to any festival but generally made on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It consists of making nine rounds and the recitation of the Rosary, each round finishing at the priest’s grave. The sign of the cross is scored on the gallaun beside it or on the end stone of the grave, and a votive offering, a hair pin, button or generally the tassel from a woollen shawl, worn by all the peasantry in Kerry, is passed through the hole in the end stone of the grave.
PJ Lynch, Some of the Antiquities around St Finan’s Bay,County Kerry, 1902
There is also a well on Illaunloughan, lying between the remains of the oratory and a circular hut. It’s carefully constructed, stone-lined and subterranean with several steep steps leading down to the water.
There is a certain amount of discussion as to whether this a a holy well or not. Was it built to supply the monks with water or did it have a more sacred purpose ? It’s also unclear as to whether the source of water is a spring or whether moisture collects within as a sort of cistern.
Jenny White Marshall and Claire Walsh described it as follows;
Another feature of the monastery on Illaunloughan is the small well. This feature is not fed by a spring but is rather a ground-run water-collection system, similar to that on many islands. Some system of collecting and holding water was necessary for the community. The well on Illaunloughan may have been dug out and enlarged, because it is unlikely that such a deep hole was a natural occurrence. The well is well built of seven drystone steps, each 0.45m wide, leading down to the pool of water, with a large capstone over the pool. Excavation yielded nothing of archaeological significance.
Illaunloughan Island: An Early Medieval Monastery in County Kerry, 2005, Wide Marshal & Walsh, 2005
The Archaeological Survey for County Kerry however suggests the well is spring-fed:
This stone-lined well, roofed by a large lintel, is reached by five descending steps. It appears to be spring-fed, and is located midway between the oratory … and the circular hut …
Archaeological Survey, County Kerry – online: archaeology.ie
The well is simply annotated well on the 25 inch historic OS map of 1892 but the OPW map featured in the paper version of the Survey (The Iveragh Peninsula) has it clearly marked as holy well. I’m inclined to think it’s a spring well which must surely have had some sacred significance to the resident monks, There is no concrete evidence as to who may have been patron of the well, though Pádraig Ó Riain ( A Dictionary of Irish Saints) mentions six holy men bearing the name Lóchán, which could be a diminutive form of Lóch meaning bright or radiant. One of these includes St Lóchán who was one of the seven brothers of St Fachtna of Rosscarbery in neighbouring County Cork.
What an extraordinary place to live and die. A tiny island adrift from the mainland yet readily accessible – probably food was brought over for the monks as the excavation revealed they enjoyed a varied diet. An austere life devoted to God yet living intimately with a few other souls. It seems the last monks my have departed by the eleventh century but the island probably remained revered and respected, the shrine a continued focus of devotion.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Illaunloghan was used as a cilleen, a burial place for the unbaptised, little stone markers everywhere you tread.
The island is shrinking however, constantly in danger from erosion by the sea. David said his father, now in his 80s, could remember when the island was big enough for boys to play a game of football on. Now it has been shored up and protected with revetments, maintained and protected by the OPW. A magical and fascinating place.
Robert’s view of the navigatio can be read here.
Lovely description, Amanda!
Thanks so much Betty Lou, such a remarkable place.
It was a memorable experience – beautifully observed and described.