I have been invited to give a talk to Thomond Historical Society in March and thought I ought to have a few more Limerick wells under my belt and so planned a speed well trip! On the way up a spot of serendipity for Nicholas invited me to the Well Day in Tullylease, which was sort of on the way. St Beircheart’s feast day is now celebrated on the 18th February but it originally seems to have been 6th December, one of the many mysteries and contradictions surrounding this saint (or saints) (Note: His name can be spelled in a extraordinary number of ways and I have previously opted for Berrihert but Beircheart is the preferred spelling in Tullylease where he is often simply referred to as St Ben which makes life a lot easier.)
I have written about these wells before and intend to focus on new things I discovered rather than go over the whole story. The two wells and bullaun stone in the village remain much as they always have done, as described here in the Schools’ Folklore Collection:
There are two holy wells in Tullylease, a village three miles to the north of Freemount. St Berihert’s feast day falls on the 18th of February, on which day rounds are paid at ‘St Ben’s Well’ and ‘Our Lady’s Well’. A large number of people go to Tullylease that day to pay honour to the saint. In a field near one of the wells there is a stone trough where people may be seen performing rounds that day also. This trough is called Cloc an Eild, that is ‘the hind’s stone’.
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How privileged I was to have a welcoming party to greet me in Tullylease including Mike who has a long and intimate knowledge about his home village with generations of his family living here, some who were sacristans at the local church. Mike’s daughter, Eileen, was home from Brussels especially for the Well Day. Nicholas is also passionate about his home place and a mine of information and we were also joined by Ivan, originally from Mariupol in the Ukraine, but making a new life in Ireland. He offered to take photos and record the day.
Tullylease is a small place but with a rich and complex history, acknowledged in 2000 when Bishop Magee selected it to be one of three Thresholds of the Faith, places of special pilgrimage. Ballyvourney was also honoured but I’m not sure which was the third nominee.
St Beircheart is believed to have been an Anglo-Saxon, who, along with many other monks, left Britain after the Synod of Whitby in 664AD and arrived in Tullylease possibly via Lindisfarne, Iona and Inisboffin. Folklore assigns him several siblings including St Gerard of Mayo, St Colman, St John of Mushera and the three saintly sisters of North Cork – Inghne Bhuidhe, Lassair and Laitiaran. His arrival in Tullylease is illustrated with a typical story describing the overthrow of the old pagan religion by the new Christianity. I’ll let W Reeves, DD tell the dramatic tale:
… on arriving in Tullylease, our Saint engaged in a public controversy with a druid who sought to hinder the conversion of the people; and it was finally agreed that both should enter a hut built of inflammable materials, whereupon it was to be closed upon them and set on fire, and that the survivor of this ordeal should be the just claimant upon the popular regard…
W Reeves, DD: St Berechert of Tullylease, Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 1858
The Reverend Reeves then cites the Book of Armagh, written by Muirchu probably sometime in the 8th century, which gives and interesting twist. Here the ordeal is between St Patrick and a druid but a disciple named Bineus steps in to take St Patrick’s place. Bineus and the druid seemed to have swopped clothes before entering the hut. As in the other story, Bineus emerged unblemished:
The fire did not touch him, neither was he hurt nor did he feel any unpleasantness.
Ibid
All that remained of the druid was St Patrick’s cowl which he had worn. The druid’s cowl, worn by Bineus, was reduced to ash. Nicholas told me that St Patrick is reputed to have blessed everywhere to the west of Tullylease whilst he was here – a very similar story to his blessing either the whole of County Clare or County Kerry, depending where you are from, on the hill at Knockpatrick, County Limerick.
Carvings and cross slabs
Many buildings and artefacts connected with Beircheart remain. In the ruins of the abbey, dating from the thirteenth century, are some remarkable carvings. They are not in situ but were placed on the wall in 1933 by the Board of Works. The most impressive is a beautifully carved cross, believed to date from around 750-800AD and said to be based on the Lindisfarne Gospels.
It is intricate work in a good state of preservation. The inscription is in Latin and in an attractive vernacular script which reads:
QUI CUM QUAE HUNC TITULUM LEGERIT ORAT PRO BERECHTUINE
Whoever reads this inscription let him pray for Berechtuine.
Nearby is a very different work of art, one dating from around 1830. It depicts a figure with curled hair, breeches and swallowtail coat and is believed to represent St Beircheart and was carved by a stone cutter in thanks for a cure for blindness.
It has been much eroded, not just due to the weather, but also the result of having been kissed and touched by numerous pilgrims as part of the round.
One other stone is worth describing for it depicts a very simple crucifixion scene with what was described to me as a sunflower above. Nicholas speculated that this charming yet naive artwork was that an apprentice.
There is one other impressive monument lying just outside the abbey. This is the work of famous Cork sculptor Seamus Murphy and is a monument to five young people who lost their lives in a tragic drowning incident in the River Lee in Cork City in 1963.
My guides could still remember the awfulness of the event and the sadness when the young people were buried on St Ben’s day – the feast day forever having a tinge of melancholy.
St Beircheart’s Well
A short distance from the abbey is St Beircheart’s Well, possibly founded by the saint himself. It is subterranean spring well, now surrounded by a whitewashed wall and canopy, erected in 1905.
Unfortunately stones were used from an ancient, rectangular building next to it, known as Beircheart’s House. Traditionally, small stones were also taken from this building by pilgrims for it was believed they would protect them from fire and storms. The practice no longer continues. Nor is the scratching of crosses on the figures within the abbey permitted but inside the house is a large plain stone, where pilgrims may carry out this ritual.
The water within the well was looking fresh and clear today, said to cure many ailments especially those of the eyes.
St Marys Well, Tobar Muire
A few metres away on the other side of the road is the second well, St Mary’s Well. Colonel Grove White took a wonderful photograph of it in 1907 with an attendant well woman. Originally the well was said to be lined with bog oak and was later surmounted by a rough stone built wellhouse.
A strange story accounts for its alternative name Poll a Mheir or Pool of the Finger:
Our Lady’s Well is called by the inhabitants “Poll a Mheair” or “Pool of the Finger” The townland in which this well is situated is still called Poulavare. This name is accounted for by the story that a certain soldier passing the way dipped his finger into it in mockery, and that the finger dropped off at the level of the water.
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The cure is of course for sore fingers! Today the well looks very different with its elaborate and beautifully maintained wellhouse but I suspect stones from the original well are incorporated into it.
The Hind Stone, Cloch na hEilte
The third monument to be traditionally visited on Well Day lies adrift in a what was originally the Fair Field. This is a massive bullaun stones- an enigma as to where it came from as it is not local stone.
It is said St Beircheart baptised pagans here but it is better connected with another odd story which explains its name, the Hind Stone, Cloch na hEilte. Builders working on St Beircheart’s church were continually surprised and grateful to find that the stone filled up with milk overnight. They were of course curious as to where it had come from and determined to find out, staying overnight on watch. They were amazed when a deer appeared and left her milk in the stone. Unfortunately she spied the men, was outraged to be discovered and kicked at the stone with her hoof, causing a hole to appear. The stone never again filled with milk, and the hind vanished.
This is reminiscent of the Deer Stone in Glendalough, County Wicklow where St Kevin is said to have fostered a child called Foelán who was still a baby. A doe came down each day and left her milk in a bullaun stone which was used to feed the child. And in Gleann na nGealt, Glen of the Mad, Kerry, another bullaun stone was filled with milk to provide food for those suffering from mental ailments.
The Hind Stone retains a cure for headaches, the sufferer traditionally rubbing their head three times around the interior as demonstrated here! Not easy to do!
The rounds traditionally take in all three monuments and the abbey. Originally, the round was a novena – pilgrims visiting for nine days before St Ben’s Day, or nine days afterwards- or both. I spoke to two women who were completing their novena, paid for a friend who was seriously ill. As at St Gobnait’s Well in Ballyvourney, a 21 day vigil is occasionally carried out for really serious intentions.
A steady stream of people were visiting the wells and paying the rounds, all enjoying the unexpected sunshine, an air of camaraderie in the air. Sadly I could not linger for the 3 o clock Mass as I had to wend my way on to Limerick City but I am so glad I dropped by and was part of Well Day.
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